Commissioners pass resolution asking state for Ag Center funds

Tuesday

Apr 2, 2019 at 4:08 PMApr 2, 2019 at 5:50 PM

ASHEBORO — Randolph County will be requesting up to $10 million from the state to support the first phase of a proposed Agricultural Center.

The county commissioners approved a resolution at their April 1 meeting seeking financial support from the state to help fund the initial phase of the facility, which would include a livestock arena and offices. The estimated cost of that option for Phase I is $27 million.

County Manager Hal Johnson told the commissioners that the county has been able to provide for school construction and maintenance projects, an addition to the Detention Center and renovation of the Northgate Center for government offices without raising property taxes. Those projects total more than $105 million.

“Those are required projects,” Johnson said, adding that North Carolina general statutes require counties to be responsible for school construction, jail facilities and government offices. However, an agriculture center does not come under those requirements, he said.

“As discussed at the (commissioners’ Feb. 19) retreat, unless new financial resources are available for the increased interest and principal payments, even a phased approach to the project could not be considered until 2028, when the county’s existing debt for the two high schools is retired,” Johnson said.

Johnson went on to say that there have been talks of constructing an agriculture center in Randolph County “for at least the past 20 years.” The commissioners purchased a 104-acre tract on East Dixie Drive in Asheboro and talks began on planning of such a facility.

Based on input from residents, the project as proposed would have been an estimated $58 million, which would have necessitated a tax increase prior to 2028.

At the Feb. 19 retreat, the commissioners considered two options for a first phase of the Agriculture Center. One option is to build a multi-purpose arena, two livestock housing areas, a sales ring, maintenance building, solid waste structure, office building and site development for future growth. The estimated cost is $27 million.

The second option is just an office building with an estimated cost of $12 million.

Johnson said that after a review of those options with agricultural leaders, the consensus was to pursue the first option without a property tax increase. Then on March 18, a meeting was held that included Commission Chair Darrell Frye, Vice Chair David Allen, agricultural leaders and county staff, N.C. Sen. Jerry Tillman, N.C. Reps. Allen McNeill and Pat Hurley, and Laura Kilian, legislative affairs director for the N.C. Department of Agriculture. That group reviewed the project.

“The attached resolution to request state funding in support of the Randolph County Agricultural Center is the first step in exploring funding opportunities for this project,” Johnson said. “We will continue to explore other financing partnerships in the coming months.”

During the public comment period at the beginning of the commissioners meeting, Bob Morrison asked the board to “delay spending any additional money on development of an Agricultural Events Center until two important prerequisites are met.” Morrison first listed a “credible business plan with an operating budget that includes all projected revenues and expenses, including repayment of debt.”

Secondly, Morrison said, “The cost and value of the Ag Center should be compared to that of other needs and opportunities identified by citizens in the county’s strategic plan you approved in 2016.”

Morrison also took issue to the commissioners’ “intent to use Article 46 sales tax money that voters approved specifically for facilities at Randolph Community College for the Ag Center and other projects. … Spending that money for something else without going back to the voters is a breach of trust.”

He continued, “A more appropriate course would be to hold an advisory referendum on the Ag Center and let voters decide whether they want to subsidize it. They did it for the college. Maybe they will do it for the Ag Center, too, if you have a credible business plan.”

Also speaking against the Agricultural Center was Faye Cox. “Why spend money on something we don’t have to have?” she asked. “It’s the expense” that concerned her.

Macky Garner asked the commissioners how other counties pay for their agriculture centers. Then he proposed putting the City of Asheboro’s proposed sportsplex on the 104 acres rather than at the corner of Zoo Parkway and Old Cox Road. “We don’t need a field of dreams in Asheboro,” Garner said. “Build it and they may not come.”

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